True Crime Vault: Overboard

Summary

Podcast Summary: 20/20 – True Crime Vault: Overboard

Episode Details:

• Title: True Crime Vault: Overboard
• Host/Author: ABC News
• Release Date: January 22, 2025
• Description: This episode delves into the mysterious disappearance of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, a retired couple who vanished under suspicious circumstances after selling their luxury yacht. The investigation unravels dark motives, deceit, and the eventual pursuit of justice.

---

1. Introduction to the Case

The episode opens with the haunting disappearance of Thomas (Tom) and Jackie Hawks, a beloved couple from Newport Beach, California. Known for their frugal lifestyles despite their affluent surroundings, the Hawks decided to sell their impressive 55-foot yacht, "Well Deserved," to Skylar and Jennifer De Leon, a seemingly idealistic young couple.

• Detective: "Welcome to the 2020 True Crime Vault." [00:30]

2. Background on Tom and Jackie Hawks

Tom Hawks, a military veteran and former probation officer, hailed from a family deeply rooted in law enforcement. He was known for his hard work, frugality, and devotion to his family. Jackie, his wife, was cherished for her kind nature and dedication to her stepchildren after Tom's divorce.

• Ryan Hawks: "He pretty much raised me all the way to adulthood and made me who I am today." [03:40]
• Tom Hawks: "Jackie was a very down to earth, really sweet woman." [03:57]

3. The Acquisition of "Well Deserved"

In their pursuit of retirement, the Hawks invested in "Well Deserved," a meticulously maintained yacht equipped with state-of-the-art amenities. Their life aboard the yacht was idyllic, spending time cruising the California coastline and staying fit despite the challenges of sea life.

• Ryan Hawks: "Tom had outfitted this vessel with everything inside was beautiful teak." [05:26]

4. The Decision to Sell the Yacht

Facing impending grandchildren and the desire to settle closer to family in Arizona, the Hawks decided to downsize from their luxurious vessel. Eschewing traditional brokers, they opted to sell the yacht independently, placing an advertisement in a boating magazine.

• Tom Hawks: "He wanted to buy a boat and live on the boat." [04:58]
• Jackie Hawks: "So they were willing to sell the Well Deserved... on their own." [08:08]

5. The Mysterious Disappearance

After a final trip to Catalina Island, the Hawks notified friends and family about the impending sale. However, shortly after, they vanished without a trace. Their yacht was found moored as usual, but their Honda CRV and personal whereabouts remained unknown.

• Ryan Hawks: "Next thing you know is no one can get a hold of them." [00:56]
• Detective: "By November 16, 2004, it's obvious something's wrong." [11:00]

6. Investigation Unfolds

The investigation spotlighted Skylar De Leon, a convicted felon with a troubled past, as the prospective buyer. Police unearthed Skylar's criminal history, including an armed burglary conviction, raising red flags about his intentions.

• Ryan Hawks: "Skyler happens to be a convicted felon. He's on probation. I go, jeez." [16:12]

A receipt found on the yacht from Target for items like trash bags and bleach suggested potential premeditation for a crime, hinting at a possible motive to cover wrongdoing.

• Tom Hawks: "That receipt on the boat, it's from Target, and it has a bizarre shopping list on it." [25:04]
• Ryan Hawks: "If I was going to kill somebody... I'd have my clean kit and it would be bags to get rid of evidence..." [25:34]

7. Confrontations and Revelations

Skylar and Jennifer De Leon claimed legitimate intent in purchasing the yacht, but inconsistencies in their stories and financial backgrounds deepened suspicions. The pivotal moment came when a car matching the Hawks' missing Honda CRV was spotted in Ensenada, Mexico, leading investigators to confront Skylar.

• Ryan Hawks: "We found this receipt on a boat. It was expecting it to be Skylar... but it was not Skylar." [25:34]
• Detective: "It's a very big petty counterfeiter. And he met Skylar De Leon while they were both serving time in the Seal Beach jail." [51:19]

8. The Arrest and Trial

Skylar De Leon was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks, as well as John Jarvey, another victim tied to his criminal activities. During the trial, disturbing details emerged about Skylar's manipulative nature and his collaboration with accomplices like John F. Kennedy, who served as the muscle in their schemes.

• Ryan Hawks: "Skylar De Leon is now in custody." [50:08]
• Detective: "A fellow detective of mine, Jay Short, had found a business card... John Jarvey was found with his throat slit." [50:21]

Jennifer De Leon, Skylar's wife, was also implicated and eventually convicted for her role in the crimes, receiving life sentences. The courtroom drama highlighted the deceptive tactics employed by the De Leons to gain control and silence their victims.

• Jennifer De Leon: "Skylar says, we purchased it... we still need some information." [28:35]
• Ryan Hawks: "My family and I have been waiting for this day for a long time." [75:07]

9. Motives and Psychological Insights

The episode delves into Skylar's troubled upbringing, including abuse and identity struggles, which may have fueled his criminal behavior. Additionally, financial desperation and the allure of obtaining luxurious assets like the yacht were significant motivators.

• Skylar De Leon: "I want to live on the boat... I have a bunch of money that I have no way to spend." [30:09]
• Detective: "Skylar had a record and he was in the database." [31:51]

10. Justice and Aftermath

The trials concluded with the De Leons receiving severe penalties for their heinous crimes. Skylar was sentenced to death, while Jennifer received two life sentences. John F. Kennedy also faced the death penalty for his involvement. Despite the legal resolution, the Hawks family continues to grapple with the loss and trauma inflicted by the murders.

• Ryan Hawks: "Justice was served because these people were found guilty." [80:34]
• Jennifer De Leon: "Skyler Preciosa de Leon... was convicted of the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks." [81:34]

11. Final Reflections

The episode closes with reflections on the senselessness of the crimes and the enduring pain of the victims' loved ones. It underscores the profound impact of violent deception and the arduous journey towards uncovering the truth in true crime investigations.

• Narrator: "At the end of the day, they all get what they deserve. Only Lonzo will ever see the light of day again." [80:34]
• Ryan Hawks: "They're evil personified. Scariest people I've ever met." [82:54]

---

Notable Quotes:

• Ryan Hawks: "If I was gonna kill somebody, you know, I'd have my clean kit and it would be bags to get rid of evidence, you know, bleach to wipe down the scene. And maybe if I had a conscience, some Tums to settle my stomach after killing some poor people." [25:34]

• Detective Dave Byington: "This is the big urgency we have right now. These people are still missing. I'm fearful that they're not alive." [46:56]

• Jackie Hawks: "Tom and Jackie Hawks were murdered more than 15 years ago. And this is one of the cases that I still think about." [83:19]

• Jennifer De Leon: "Skyler Preciosa de Leon... was convicted of the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks and also John Jarvey." [81:34]

---

Conclusion:

"True Crime Vault: Overboard" presents a chilling narrative of trust betrayed and lives brutally taken. Through meticulous investigation and compelling storytelling, the episode sheds light on the complexities of human motives and the relentless pursuit of justice by those who remain. It serves as a sobering reminder of the darkness that can lurk behind seemingly ordinary facades.

Transcript

[Ryan Hawks]

Remember last year's amazing trip, that cute.

[Narrator]

First birthday party, all those photos, all.

[Jackie Hawks]

Those memories can be freed from your phone with a Shutterfly photo book.

[Narrator]

Rediscover and share your favorite moments with those you love.

[Jackie Hawks]

You'll be amazed how easy it is to make a photo book with Shutterfly.

[Narrator]

And enjoy it for years to come.

[Jackie Hawks]

Get 40% off orders over $29 with code pod40shutterfly.com and make something that means something.

[Detective]

Welcome to the 2020 True Crime Vault.

[Tom Hawks]

Where heart stopping headlines come to life.

[Skylar De Leon]

This is Captain Tom Hawks in well Deserved.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm so glad you could join us on our last voyage on well Deserved.

[Skylar De Leon]

This is not right. Something's going on here.

[Ryan Hawks]

Next thing you know is no one can get a hold of him.

[Jackie Hawks]

Oh my God.

[Narrator]

Oh, my Go. And Jackie Hawks were nowhere to be found. They tell friends and family, hey, you know, we think we've sold our boat. We met this rich kid and he really wants it.

[Ryan Hawks]

Who's this guy?

[Narrator]

Skylar De Leon was a childhood actor.

[Skylar De Leon]

And he was in the Power Rangers.

[Narrator]

So Skyler said, I had a briefcase full of cash. I handed it to Tom and he was thrilled.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skylar De Leon told police, I don't know what happened to the Hawks. All they said was they were driving off to Mexico.

[Ryan Hawks]

Geez. Okay, well, this doesn't sound good right now.

[Jennifer De Leon]

It became more and more sin in the fact that nobody had heard from them.

[Skylar De Leon]

We're hoping, we're thinking we're gonna find them.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

People are missing.

[Skylar De Leon]

I think people are dead. A Hollywood screenwriter can't come up with this.

[Jennifer De Leon]

I mean, there's really no other word to describe it. It's evil. Newport beach is the dream that a lot of people think of when they think of Calif.

[Skylar De Leon]

Everybody surfs every day, everybody goes on boats every day. And it's Southern California on steroids is really what it is.

[Narrator]

It's in between Los Angeles and San Diego along this gorgeous coastline. A lot of people with money live in Newport Beach. So a lot of people with gorgeous boats, including some pretty nice yachts, will pull up at the port there.

[Jennifer De Leon]

It's one of the few places in the United States that you can buy a multimillion doll and have a dock ready to accommodate a 50, 60, 100 foot yacht.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh, yeah, I'm here.

[Skylar De Leon]

I'm the captain of this boat, doing an outstanding job.

[Narrator]

Tom Hawks was just one of these all around good guys. He grew up in California.

[Tom Hawks]

He grew up on a farm with a brother, Jim Hawks. They liked to go surfing, they liked to go sailing.

[Narrator]

He Was in the military. He saw some fighting in Vietnam.

[Tom Hawks]

He became a probation officer. His brother became a police officer and then later a police chief. So he came from a law enforcement family.

[Narrator]

Eventually, Tom got married and had two boys, Ryan and Matthew Hawkes, and he ends up raising them after he ended up getting a divorce.

[Detective]

I met Tom's son Ryan in Newport beach when we first started doing this story in 2009. How close were you guys growing up?

[Ryan Hawks]

Even very close. My parents divorced when I was probably like five. He pretty much raised me all the way to adulthood and made me who I am today.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Jackie, hello. Hi, honey. I'm so glad to be home. She's home.

[Tom Hawks]

Jackie was a very down to earth, really sweet woman.

[Narrator]

When he met Jackie, he called me.

[Ryan Hawks]

And said, hey, I finally met somebody.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

And if you guys hit it on.

[Ryan Hawks]

I know I finally found the right one. And Jackie and I hit it off.

[Narrator]

And we did everything together.

[Tom Hawks]

They had a lot of friends, 150 people. At their wedding, the boys called her mom even though their mother was still alive.

[Detective]

The more you learned about Tom and Jackie, the more you liked them. They were rich in love, not so much in the pocketbook. They saved their money, they were frugal, they worked hard.

[Narrator]

Even though he never made a lot of money in his lifetime, he was a saver. And he did invest in a couple of small properties and made a little money on that. But really, at the end of the day, he found himself in his 50s, able to retire if he wanted to. And Jackie was all for it.

[Tom Hawks]

He had a dream. He wanted to buy a boat and live on the boat.

[Narrator]

He buys the boat. It was about $300,000. Well deserved. Everybody agreed that's the perfect name because she was.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

And we just came across these beautiful dolphins.

[Narrator]

Aren't they beautiful?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Love how they play with the boat.

[Tom Hawks]

The well deserved is a 55 foot trawler. It's kind of a smaller yacht, but you can live on it.

[Ryan Hawks]

Tom had outfitted this vessel with everything inside was beautiful teak. It was immaculate.

[Tom Hawks]

They put in a lot of up to date equipment, the GPS system and all kinds of other stuff that really made it nice.

[Skylar De Leon]

This is our GPS. This is where our boat is and.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Approximately our ETA, etc.

[Skylar De Leon]

Their boat was moored in Newport harbor right off 15th Street. And they would use their small boat to travel back and forth from the dock to the well deserved. This is the first day of our new cruising season. Jackie's kind of at the helm and there's his little San Pedro.

[Narrator]

They spent their time Going from Newport beach up through the California coastline into Mexico.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

We just arrived on Isla Coronado. Tom setting an anchor and we're gonna get ready and explore.

[Narrator]

Tom was a crazy fitness guy.

[Ryan Hawks]

He's like an axe.

[Narrator]

Look at his muscles straining. How to stay in shape at sea was one of his obsessions. He had weights that he would lift. He'd do pull ups off the side of the.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Here's Tom doing his workout. He's looking good.

[Narrator]

They had a wonderful love affair. They worked together as a team like no other. They were true first mates and captain.

[Skylar De Leon]

The picture of the sun getting a little bigger. This is what cruising is all about.

[Narrator]

So this was their life for two years until some pretty dramatic news came their way. Matt, their youngest son, was about to have a baby.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh, there he is. What a dog baby.

[Narrator]

It was going to be their first grandchild and this was a big deal for Tom, but it was probably an even bigger deal for Jackie.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Jackie was involved in a motorcycle accident when she was 22 years old and had some internal damage and tragically was unable to have children, children of her own. When her stepson Matt had that baby, she really wanted to play the role of devoted grandmother.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh, are you so beautiful.

[Skylar De Leon]

They were planning on selling this yacht, taking the proceeds from it and moving close to this grandbaby.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Hi, Jake, can you say hi to grandpa? You're getting so big.

[Ryan Hawks]

I think it just hit home with them how important family was his grandpa holding a joke.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Grand boy, how are you?

[Skylar De Leon]

You're not gonna poop on me, are you?

[Detective]

The Hawks decided to downsize. And we're gonna go from that huge boat to a small boat, dock it in Mexico, get a little house there and still be close enough to go see the grandson who lived in Arizona.

[Jackie Hawks]

So they were willing to sell the well deserved. And being very frugal, they wanted to bypass the broker and just sell the boat on their own. So they took out an ad in a boating magazine.

[Tom Hawks]

They went on one last trip to Catalina Island. Jim Hawks, Tom's brother, brought his boat and they all had this little party.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Okay, here we are on Catalina Island. This is our last trip to the island because we sold the boat and we're all having a really good time.

[Ryan Hawks]

So after this last Catalina cruise, Tom and Jackie had told Jim Hawks and other people that, you know, the sale was going to take place in the next few days.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

So we'll see what happens. Hopefully we'll be all right. But you don't know what's going to happen.

[Ryan Hawks]

Next thing you know is no one can get a hold of them. For them just to shut off their cell phones and drop off the face of the earth is extremely out of character.

[Jackie Hawks]

And when Ryan and his brother Matt tried calling them and they weren't answering, they knew something was really up.

[Narrator]

Ryan's in Arizona. So Ryan puts in a call to his uncle Jim Hawks, who lives in San Diego. He used to be the chief of police for Carlsbad Police Department. Jim Hawks jumps in his car, gets down there.

[Detective]

Don Trefin and Jim Hawks are looking for Jackie and Tom. So they go to Newport Beach. There they find the well deserved but no couple.

[Skylar De Leon]

We were there, we looked for their car. We, you know, walked around a couple of blocks. It's kind of where they would park. Couldn't find their car.

[Narrator]

Well deserved is there but Tom's not around, Jackie's not around. It's pretty quickly evident to everybody that something is amiss.

[Skylar De Leon]

And we went over to the dinghy dock and this well deserved dinghy was there. It wasn't properly tied. And I just told Jim, I go, this, you know, this is not right. Something's going on here.

[Ryan Hawks]

My uncle knew something was wrong right away. Your dad didn't tie the dinghy, your dad didn't lift the motor down.

[Skylar De Leon]

We met with Carter Ford and we went out to the boat.

[Ryan Hawks]

From a distance you probably wouldn't notice too much, but as you get closer, the first thing you notice is the boat was tied, but lines were hanging over the side of the boat.

[Skylar De Leon]

As we came up on the boat, I noticed that the tarps were all off, all the controls were just kind of peeled back and there was a towel hanging out one of the portholes. And I got a sick feeling in my stomach, just like something wasn't right.

[Narrator]

By November 16, 2004, it's obvious something's wrong. Tom and Jackie were nowhere to be found.

[Jackie Hawks]

The other part to this was the well deserved. The yacht was back in its right spot in Newport beach harbor. Their Honda CRV was nowhere to be found and they were nowhere to be found either. Something was really up and there's the kid, what's happening?

[Ryan Hawks]

They were a very close knit family. So if they couldn't be reached over a certain period of time, all kinds of alarm bells went off.

[Detective]

Family and friends are already desperate. They start tracing and backtracking their steps to see what might have happened to them.

[Ryan Hawks]

I knew they thought they might be selling the boat. That's what they were hoping to do.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They believed that they had found a buyer to the boat, that they'd essentially gotten the price that they wanted.

[Tom Hawks]

They were excited. They thought, we got a buyer, you know, we've got someone, we're going to sell this boat.

[Narrator]

Jackie told me that this person was going to be coming back to take a test drive on the boat the next day.

[Ryan Hawks]

Before you sell a vessel, they take a sea trial. They take the vessel out. It's like a test run in a car.

[Narrator]

The only thing we know about this trip is that it indeed happened. And that's because Jackie calls and leaves a message with a dear friend.

[Ryan Hawks]

They bid me goodbye on the phone Monday morning. The next thing I heard was a voicemail from Jackie and said that we're still at sea. I'll be in touch with you again.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Rocking and rolling. Well deserved.

[Ryan Hawks]

She left a voicemail. It basically said that Tom and Jackie were out at sea with the purchaser and that she'd get back to him.

[Narrator]

So as far as friends and family knew, on November 15, 2004, they were meeting some prospective buyers and they were going to sell out a bit towards Catalina Island. The sale would likely happen and Jackie and Tom would be home with any luck, before Thanksgiving.

[Jackie Hawks]

Before they disappeared, Tom had mentioned to family members that this guy who was a child actor was going to be the buyer.

[Ryan Hawks]

For me, it was a worrisome mystery. I wanted more information. I wanted to know who was this would be buyer.

[Narrator]

Jim Hoggs wants to talk to whoever brought in the well deserved. So he takes out a card and he writes on the back of it, I am a retired police officer and I'd like to speak to whoever bought the boat. Tom and Jackie Hawks are missing and I need to chat with you.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Leaves his phone number and the person that contacted him was Jennifer De Leon.

[Narrator]

Jim's like, look, did you buy the boat? Yep, we sure did. And she is super duper sweet.

[Detective]

Jennifer has an explanation. She tells Jim that she and her husband Skylar bought the boat in cash, in full.

[Tom Hawks]

Jennifer says, we don't know where the Hawks are and we still wanted to find out where they are because we still need some information about how to use this boat that we now have. We bought the boat, they drove away. You know, we haven't heard from them and we don't know where they are either.

[Narrator]

She says, I think that they were going to go off to Mexico playing soccer.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh, and there's a gringo.

[Narrator]

And that's pretty much it. She's pretty short on that phone call.

[Detective]

Not surprisingly, Jim thought this might be a little suspicious. So he called Arizona to one of their friends.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Patricia Shutes who they'd put in charge of essentially paying their bills and taking care of their finances while they were down in Mexico. Because during this time, way harder to deal with that from a foreign country, especially on a boat which may or may not have Internet access.

[Narrator]

Tom and Jackie, if they would have sold that boat, they would have deposited that money into their bank account. But there was no activity on their account.

[Jackie Hawks]

So we knew that something was really wrong.

[Narrator]

Jim Hawks, he told me that he was going to contact the police department and file a missing persons report Friday morning.

[Skylar De Leon]

Most missing persons investigations, the person's found in a very short amount of time. There's Jackie work in the email. It's either lack of communication or perhaps they went somewhere else that they weren't expected to. JIM HAWKS TOM HAWKS BROTHER he had already done his homework on his own. Once our investigators start talking with him, we knew we needed to really start looking hard.

[Narrator]

This case lands on Dave Byington's desk and at this point, he'd been a cop a long time and he's a cops cop. The minute he sees Jim Hawkes and reads the details of this case, he knew this family had reason to worry.

[Ryan Hawks]

This couple, Tom and Jackie Hawks, had lived on their yacht in Newport, were in the process of selling or sold the vessel to this other couple, Skylar and Jennifer deleon.

[Detective]

So Newport police start digging, looking at Skylar and Jennifer, and you know what they find? Stuff, troubling stuff.

[Ryan Hawks]

Skyler happens to be a convicted felon. He's on probation. I go, jeez. So my first indication, okay, well, this doesn't sound good right now.

[Tom Hawks]

Sergeant Dave Byington, he sends out a detective to go out to the boat. And so the guy gets to the boat and he's looking around and he sees this receipt on the floor.

[Detective]

That receipt on the boat, it's from Target, and it has a bizarre shopping list on it.

[Narrator]

The minute Detective Byington sees that receipt, he knows something's off.

[Skylar De Leon]

There are major tax changes coming this year, with income tax brackets expected to adjust for inflation. While the exact figures aren't final, you can expect to see slight increases in the income thresholds for each bracket. But here's the thing. You don't have to navigate these changes alone. If you owe back taxes or have unfiled returns, do not wait for the IRS letter to act. Turn it over to Tax Network usa. Tax Network USA has a strong relationship with the irs. They have a preferred direct line to the irs. So they know exactly which agents to talk to and which ones to avoid. Their expert Strategies are designed to settle your tax issues whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million. In fact, they've already resolved over $1 billion in tax debt. Stop looking over your shoulder and take control. Call now at 1-800-958-1000 or visit tnusa.com 20 that's tnusa.com 20 y@t mobile. We'll give you four free 5G phones and four lines for only $25 per line per month with eligible trade ins. And no, it's not a contest. It's every day for a limited time. Everyone's a winner on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of 4 lines for 25 per line per month with autopay discount using debit or bank account. $5 more per line without autopay up to $830 off each phone be a 24 monthly bill credit plus taxes, fees and $10 device connection charge for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue build credits or credit stop and balance on required finance agreement to bill credits and if you pay off devices early ct mobile.com.

[Ryan Hawks]

That'S a nice one. Good job.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh. Oh, it just got him. That's what he said. Stab me.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was concerned. The day before Thanksgiving when I haven't.

[Jackie Hawks]

Heard from him, I asked him, are you sure they just didn't. They're an adventurous couple. Sure they just didn't take off for a week or two. And he without hesitation said no, they would not just disappear.

[Skylar De Leon]

This is Captain Tom Hawks and well deserved.

[Ryan Hawks]

Tom and Jackie Hawks were in the process of selling the vessel to this other couple, Skylar and Jennifer De Leon. We ran both of them to figure out because they were probably or potentially the last people to see the Hawks. When we ran Skyler, we automatically find out that he's got a record. He had done jail time for an armed burglary where he broke into a house with a weapon. And he was on probation.

[Tom Hawks]

His original name at birth was John Julius Jacobson.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

When I think of him when I was raising him, I still refer to him sometimes as Little Johnny. He wanted to make everyone happy. He was just always right there trying.

[Jackie Hawks]

To make you smile, trying to make things better.

[Detective]

Lisa left Skyler's father, you know, when he was just a little kid.

[Narrator]

Skylar grew up in a crazy house.

[Detective]

How did you grow up? Tell me a little bit about the situation.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I pretty much primarily grew up with my dad.

[Detective]

And what kind of guy was he?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Not the best. Not the best dad.

[Detective]

And in fact, he was involved with drugs and was frequently in trouble with the law.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yes, sir. He was into manufacturing, speed, and pretty much anything he could make money with.

[Narrator]

His father got him into acting, but it was never about Skyler. He wanted Skyler to act so he.

[Ryan Hawks]

Could make money off of him.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Ready and action.

[Jackie Hawks]

He never really made it big in the business. He had parts in commercials, and I think his biggest role was probably as an extra in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Go, Go, power rang, the TV series, which was pretty popular in the early 1990s.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

You guys were great.

[Tom Hawks]

Now, the problem is Skyler could never remember his lines, and his dad would yell at him on the set until the producers are basically like, get that guy out of here. He's really. He's upsetting Skyler. He's upsetting everyone else. And Skyler hated acting.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

You're not good enough for this. You're not good enough for that. Why aren't you this? Why aren't you that? There's an expectation or a level that you're always trying to rise up to, but you can never meet, no matter how hard you try.

[Narrator]

Skylar is kind of a weak kid, you know, kind of a little bit effeminate, maybe. Skyler's dad pretty much despised him for that and started knocking him around.

[Jennifer De Leon]

So Skyler joined the United States Marine Corps.

[Narrator]

He probably never would have joined the Marines but for he thought this would make him look like a man. And as much as he hated his dad, he was also always trying to impress his dad.

[Jennifer De Leon]

He said he was Marine Corps Force Recon, which, for those who don't know, is one of the elite military forces in the United States military. He got a Marine Corps Force Recon tattoo.

[Ryan Hawks]

He would explain that he had attended all these classes and all this training, and he had, you know, 62 confirmed kills.

[Tom Hawks]

When he got out of the Marines, he wanted to change his name to Skylar De Leon. On the paperwork, it says he doesn't want to be associated by the same name as his father because his father is a bad person and a criminal. It was right before he met Jennifer that he changed his name.

[Narrator]

Jennifer Henderson grew up in a way that was the very opposite of how Skylar grew up. She had loving parents. They were very religious. They went to church.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

We actually met online. We just kind of started chatting, and then, you know, went from there to all of a sudden started talking on the phone. And then one day we were like, you know what I mean?

[Narrator]

So they arrange a rendezvous at a local mall. They go to a movie. They spend the whole day Together and that was it. From that moment on they were pretty much inseparable.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

We dated for about a year and he proposed to me in Catalina. We actually had two weddings. A quick one in Corona del Mar on the beach, just family, close friends, barefoot shorts, very casual, it was very fun. And then the big formal wedding.

[Narrator]

Who knows why Jennifer ends up saying yes to Skylar. They're so different in so many ways. He grows up this troubled childhood. She grows up with all these advantages. She has a little bit of a profession going for herself. He's got no career path that we can see.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I am a hairstylist and I've done that for five years. And he was actually working as an electrician. He had the job, he just hadn't started yet.

[Tom Hawks]

According to Jennifer's mother, she thinks that they got pregnant on their wedding night because the timing of it was just so. So yeah, they had a little girl, Hailey, and then they got pregnant again.

[Narrator]

They really don't have a lot of assets. Jennifer is the breadwinner.

[Jackie Hawks]

They were deep in debt. They owed nearly $90,000. They were so poor that they were living in the garage next to Jennifer's parents home. They had no bathroom, they had no kitchen. They had to go to the main house for that. They already had a very young daughter and there was a second baby on the way.

[Detective]

You put that all together and these two young people are clearly not qualified to own a 55 foot boat.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We get a search warrant to look at the boat and they find a bunch of things that are of interest, but they find that it's number one, it's messy, so Tom Hawks has not left it that way. And they find a receipt from a.

[Narrator]

Target store and that receipt shows a purchase of trash bags, Tums and, and.

[Tom Hawks]

Dave Byington goes, that's a kill kit if I ever heard one.

[Ryan Hawks]

If I was going to kill somebody, you know, I'd have my clean kit and it would be bags to get rid of evidence, you know, bleach to wipe down the scene. And maybe if I had a conscience, some Tums to settle my stomach after killing some poor people. Target security was able to pull up that specific purchase of these items and.

[Tom Hawks]

They'Re expecting it to be Skyler. And they know what Skylar looks like because he's got a record and he's in the database. But it's not Skylar.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was looking at an obese man, which was not Skylar De Leon. Now we have another little straw on the camel's back saying okay, who is this guy and why is this Receipt on this boat. And who is this clown?

[Detective]

It's been two weeks since Tom and Jackie have disappeared. And the police go on board the well deserved, which is moored exactly where it was left.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They find a receipt from a Target store. And every time you purchase anything from a Target store, you're photographed at the cash register and you're photographed leaving. So we get this photograph of this guy and police trace it back and it is Steve Henderson, Jennifer's father, who actually made this purchase. So Newport detectives go to his house in Long beach and they say, is this you in this photograph buying these items? We found this receipt on a boat. And he immediately says, yeah, my daughter and son in law purchased that boat.

[Narrator]

It turns out Jennifer had sent her dad to the store to buy the bleach, the Tums and the trash.

[Detective]

Jen's father brings back bleach and some bags. All they say to help clean their new boat. So logically, police ask him, does he know where Jennifer and Skylar are?

[Jennifer De Leon]

He says they're helping to clean a church right down the street. I think they're there now.

[Ryan Hawks]

When I see a family volunteering in a church, I was put at ease a little bit with that, thinking, okay, this is going to turn out okay. The Hawks are fine. These people will tell us what happened and we'll be able to locate them and close the case. I was talking to Jennifer and basically said, we're looking for the Hawks. The family's very concerned. And she said, we're really concerned too. And she was very genuine.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

It's like we've known those people or you don't really know somebody meeting them, but your nerves kind of go everywhere.

[Ryan Hawks]

We've been trying to reach out to them continually since we bought it. They have a lot of property, clothes and stuff on the vessel. We don't know what to do. She was very specific and seemed very genuine in her concern for the Hawks and finding them.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler says, we purchased it. All the documents were proper. They signed them, we recorded them. I don't know what else to tell you.

[Ryan Hawks]

We told Skyler that we needed copies of the paperwork. He told us that he had certified notarized paperwork regarding the sale, so the sale was legitimate.

[Jennifer De Leon]

He produces these documents indicating that Skyler and Jennifer had purchased the boat from Tom and Jackie Hawks. There are signatures on it, there are fingerprints on it.

[Skylar De Leon]

A notary public had already certified these documents that Tom and Jackie were present when selling. Everything was legitimate. Everything was on the up and up.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was shaking my head going, okay, I still can't get a handle on this guy. The following day, he agreed to go to the Newport Beach Police Department, where we had him in a proper interview and recorded the interview. Go down, seat. Skyler, we're still in the same position we were yesterday. These folks are still missing. Family is very concerned, and it's understandable. Skylar was very forthright. He was very, very interested in finding where the Hawks were. How did you hear about the vessel being sold?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

In the sport fishing magazine.

[Ryan Hawks]

Sport fishing?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah, I get it every month.

[Ryan Hawks]

Were you looking to buy a boat?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm pretty much always looking.

[Narrator]

It strikes the cops odd that this young guy, who doesn't really seem to have a lot of means, had nearly half a million dollars to buy this boat.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

We spent like 485 on it.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Of course, one of the big questions is, well, hey, man, where'd you get the money? And he goes, look, as you look into my background, you're gonna see I was involved in a burglary. In reality, that was a part of a dope rip that was a drug ripoff.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No matter what, truth will come out. No matter what.

[Ryan Hawks]

At this point, I already knew Skylar was on probation for an armed burglary. So he's a felon. And now he said, I'm telling you, sergeant, I want to go straight with my family. I'm a father now. I have another child on the way. So I'm trying to invest this money in a way that I can support that.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I have a bunch of money that I have no way to spend, right? And if I bring it here, I'm gonna get in trouble. I can't really go to Mexico to spend it because I'm on probation.

[Ryan Hawks]

Okay.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm kind of rocking a hard place.

[Ryan Hawks]

I go, so you're legitimizing this money that was illegal. And he copped out basically to money laundering.

[Skylar De Leon]

It is rather disarming when you're trying to find the Hawks. And he's admitting to the money laundering piece on his side. It was unusual that someone would admit that to the police.

[Ryan Hawks]

You didn't have to. You could have told me, hey, man, you know, I inherited the money. I did.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Whatever.

[Ryan Hawks]

You were very honest with me, and that's all I'm asking for.

[Tom Hawks]

Who would come up with a story that they used money, laundered drug money to buy a boat unless it was really true?

[Narrator]

Skyler is so cool, calm and collected. He said, look, we went out, took the boat for a run. We all came back. We love the boat.

[Ryan Hawks]

So you've got the money and do you initiate a call to the Hawks?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah, I call him up and tell him, hey, you know, I am ready. And asked them if it was okay, you know, can you all with my wife. And they said, you know, that'd be fine. Okay.

[Ryan Hawks]

Where'd they meet you at the 15th Street?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah. 15th Street.

[Tom Hawks]

This transaction allegedly occurred in the parking lot at the 15th street dock, basically on the trunk of the car with a suitcase full of money.

[Ryan Hawks]

And that was cash, right?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hawks]

That you paid him that day?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was asking, what kind of container was this money in? Was it loose bills? Was it, you know, all hundreds. They all $100 bills?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Y. Everything. All hundreds, all hundreds in stacks about that big.

[Ryan Hawks]

Okay. And I just know, working narcotics, that it was just a mishma wash of cash. It was never something where you'd go into a bank vault and see perfectly stacked thousands of dollars in bank wrappers. So that kind of raised a flag. You flashed the cash to them.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hawks]

Did you just open the briefcase, or did you give it to them? Look at it. How did that.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No, we went to the back of the car, like, here it is. And he's like, what was that thing?

[Ryan Hawks]

Skyler was very descriptive on Tom's reaction when he opened the briefcase and it was full of cash.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He was excited but nervous.

[Ryan Hawks]

And did he say anything to that effect, or is this something you got a feeling?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He was just like, let's just close this off.

[Ryan Hawks]

According to Skylar, Tom asked him, is it all here? Skylar kind of giggled at me and said, yep, it's all there. And so they basically said, here's the keys to the yacht. Tom and Jackie drove off in their Honda. And Scott or Jennifer said that was the last time that they saw them.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He was saying that him and his wife, they were looking at places in San Carlos. He's like, we want to get another boat.

[Skylar De Leon]

Hey, I'm the captain of this boat.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They were talking about buying a home in New Mexico, and we corroborated that from other sources. Talking was interested in that.

[Ryan Hawks]

Skyler, you got nothing to do with his disappearance, right?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No.

[Ryan Hawks]

And your wife doesn't either. Nobody in your family, your dad? Nobody. Right. Okay.

[Jennifer De Leon]

When you look at the interview, Skyler is leaning over to these detectives, and he is so convincing.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

From what I've gathered from him, I almost guarantee he's down there causing you all his grief. Yes, I almost guarantee it.

[Detective]

But the detectives have one more key piece of evidence they want to take a look at. It's this video. Video of Jennifer and Skyler trying to Take money out of the Hawks account in Arizona.

[Ryan Hawks]

Why is it you guys have power of attorney? This is a big stumbling point for the family. They said that there's no way that their family members would give power, attorney to anybody. Power of attorney. That was a pretty powerful document. Because what I was looking at was that Tom and Jackie Hawks had basically gave Skylar De Leon complete control of their assets. Assets which made absolutely no sense.

[Narrator]

I was just sitting at home on pins and needles, waiting to hear something, hear from Tom and Jackie. And the bank called, and they told me that there was somebody trying to access Tom and Jackie's account.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Jennifer and Skyler walk in, and they have this durable power of attorney. So the bank manager looks at this. It's been properly recorded. Their signatures are on it. It's been properly notarized, and takes one look at it and goes, no way am I giving you access to their accounts.

[Narrator]

The bank manager told me that there was a gentleman by the name of Skyler trying to access their accounts. I'm thinking, oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Gonna have a seat, Skyler.

[Ryan Hawks]

I'm gonna borrow you for a little bit. Because I had to go over. I have a few more questions on this thing. Why is it you guys have power of attorney?

[Narrator]

The cops think this is weird. I mean, it's one thing to sell somebody a boat. It's another thing to give them power of attorney. But Skylar just smooth this silk, tells them, look, they wanted to buy some property in Mexico.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

You can't find that house in Mexico unless you're a Mexican citizen or unless you establish residency and you have a bank account and all that stuff.

[Ryan Hawks]

Schuyler volunteered that he was very experienced in purchasing property there and that he had dual citizenship, he was of Mexican descent, and that he could facilitate a sale. You know, since he was giving him such a great deal on the yacht, he would help him out, get this money. And Scott proceeded to tell us that Tom was very interested.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'll help you out. I'll get you an account down there. I told him, like, you know, you have nothing to lose by opening up an account, and, you know, you can take care of everything from right there.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We talked to friends and family, Tom and Jackie Hawks. Sure enough, Tom had been talking to people about buying a little house on the Sea of Cortez.

[Narrator]

He literally said, I had a briefcase full of cash. I handed it to Tom, and he was thrilled. They had the money and the means now to go to Mexico. And they did. Skyler tells detectives, I got witnesses who's.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Present me my wife, daughter, Tom, Jackie, the notary, and Alonzo.

[Ryan Hawks]

Alonzo Machene. His name was there in full print as a witness on this bill of sale. And when I asked Scotto, who is Alonzo Machein? He says, oh, he's a friend of mine that I've met.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

And he's.

[Ryan Hawks]

He's from Mexico. Well, our investigation shows that Alonzo happened to meet Skyler while Skyler was doing jail time.

[Jackie Hawks]

Alonso McChain was actually a guard in the jail. And they became fast friends.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Really.

[Jackie Hawks]

I think McCheyne was quite young. He was in his early 20s. He lived at home with his parents. Skyler was on a work release program. So he was allowed to leave at certain points during the day. During that time, Alonso, they would do things that friends would do. They would hang out, they would have pizza, they'd watch tv.

[Ryan Hawks]

I'm going to be contacting Alonzo because he's also one of the last people to see them. So that helps us.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Okay, good. Yeah, that's fine.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They go and they interview Alonzo and Alonzo tells essentially the same story. We're there in the parking lot. I watched Skyler hand this money over to this guy. They drive out in their car. The other person they interviewed was Kathleen Harris. Kathleen Harris, she was a professional notary. Never been in trouble a day in her life. And she told a very similar story. They were down there. She watched this transaction. She notarized the documents. We hit a dead end in this investigation. We had a group of people who were all telling the same story. We had no physical evidence of a crime. We had no, no word from Tom and Jackie Hawks. We had no break in the case at all.

[Ryan Hawks]

Brother, I don't want to keep here anymore. I appreciate you driving down here. This is Brad Milke, host of the Start Here podcast with ABC News. Families affected by the 2025 California wildfires urgently need support. Help the American Red Cross provide meals and shelter to these families. You can donate today to Wildfire Relief by going to redcross.org abc or calling 1-800-red-cross this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. It's Brad Milkey, host of ABC's Daily News podcast Start Here. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians.

[Skylar De Leon]

These are things people say about drivers.

[Ryan Hawks]

Who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.

[Narrator]

So the cops are at a little bit of a dead end. They're not really sure where to go next. And so they do the thing that a lot of investigators are reluctant to do, but often as a necessary evil, they go to the media.

[Ryan Hawks]

Turning to another story in California this morning, police in the southern part of that state are asking for the public's help in a very mysterious disappearance. Joining us from Newport Beach, California, one of the couple's two sons, Ryan Hawks and Sgt. Steve Shulman. The biggest thing that we can do as a family was to reach out in the media and find someone may be willing to talk, someone that maybe seen them, know of their last location, know about their safety. You know, I think something's wrong. I think something's missing. I think something's really wrong. But, you know, my first priority is, you know, to find about the whereabouts of my parents.

[Jackie Hawks]

Many times when there's a missing persons case, the family might provide one or two photos of their loved one. But in this case, Ryan came out with probably 15 or 20 photos of Tom and Jack. So it really showed that this was a family that cared about one another. And that kind of brought the seriousness of their disappearance up quite a bit of a notch.

[Ryan Hawks]

The biggest thing was their car. And if we could find their car, we know we could kind of back trace their steps or what happened to them.

[Skylar De Leon]

Right now our focus is on locating them and also the vehicle that they own, this 1998 Honda CRV with an Arizona license plate.

[Tom Hawks]

The next day, the police department gets a call from this woman who had seen the show. And she basically said, I'm looking at this car right now. I live in Mexico and I'm in a trailer park and it's in the parking lot.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was so relieved. I was overwhelmed and choked up. Please be the Hawks. I want to find them alive. I'm thinking, okay, let's get down here right away. If I was gonna kill somebody, you know, I'd have my clean kit bags to get rid of evidence, bleach to wipe down the scene. And maybe if I had a conscience, some tums to settle my stomach after killing some poor people.

[Narrator]

They tell friends and family, hey, you know, we think we've sold our boat. We met this rich kid and he really wants it.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler says, look, I purchased this boat and I don't know what else to tell you.

[Skylar De Leon]

Give me a break.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I mean, my 4 year old would.

[Skylar De Leon]

Do better than this.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They're heading out to scene.

[Narrator]

Jackie is begging. How could you do this? How could you do this to us? Everybody Knew who was in charge and it wasn't Skylar.

[Ryan Hawks]

They scare the hell out of me. They're evil personified.

[Detective]

Was she the brains in the. In the family?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I hate that. Yeah, I think for the most part I'm a nice person. I treat everybody nice. I'm always everything like that. All right, folks, here we go.

[Narrator]

Quiet, please.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Five seconds to Charlie.

[Narrator]

Four, three, two.

[Ryan Hawks]

Turning to another story in California this morning. Police in the southern part of that state are asking for the public's head in a very mysterious disappearance that occurred three weeks ago.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We'd been in a dead end for weeks and we made the decision that we needed to get some. Some media attention to the case.

[Narrator]

And that proves to be a critical turning point.

[Ryan Hawks]

A couple by the name of Thomas and Jackie Hawks told a friend that they were showing their 55 foot boat to a prospective buyer. But then the couple simply vanished without a trace. Days later, the boat was found in its usual spot, but the couple's car was missing. We were splashing the license plate, the vehicle description, the picture of the Hawks everywhere we could.

[Skylar De Leon]

So it's important for the public to look out for that car because that will give us some clue as to where they went to or if in fact there is a crime involved.

[Ryan Hawks]

Sergeant Shulman, what do we know about the buyer of this boat and is there any suspicion attached to them?

[Skylar De Leon]

Well, our detectives are conducting an investigation and, and I'm not at liberty to discuss their interview.

[Jennifer De Leon]

And what Skyler says is, look, I bought the boat from these people and last I saw was they were leaving the parking lot with a suitcase full of cash that I paid them.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He was saying that him and his wife, they were looking at places in San Carlos. He said, well, now I can go down there and get himself a house and get another boat down there.

[Skylar De Leon]

Once the press hit, immediately our tip line started going off.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We get a call from a retired couple that lived in San Miguel, Mexico.

[Ryan Hawks]

And I'm going to put it on speaker. And this gal says, I'm looking at.

[Tom Hawks]

This car right now.

[Ryan Hawks]

It's right there. And she snapped a photograph of it and sent it to us. And here we are looking at the Hawk's vehicle. Hundreds of miles away in Ensenada, Mexico. Another piece of the puzzle has been found. The Hawks suv.

[Tom Hawks]

This was the first break in the case and they were pretty excited about it.

[Ryan Hawks]

That car was the missing piece that we needed to solve the case.

[Skylar De Leon]

And then the next question, well, are they there with the car? We're hoping, we're thinking we're Going to find them.

[Ryan Hawks]

Please be the Hawks. I want to find them alive.

[Jackie Hawks]

At first, the family and friends were thinking, all right, they're in Mexico. There's a little glimmer of hope.

[Narrator]

The cops make it down to Ensenada right away.

[Skylar De Leon]

Mexican authorities were taking the lead. And they knock on the door of the house.

[Narrator]

The guy who owns the house comes out and starts chatting with them.

[Ryan Hawks]

They're speaking in Spanish, but I'm making enough out of what's going on.

[Narrator]

And the guy says, no, it's not my car. This belongs to some friends of mine. And they're like, oh, okay, Tom and Jackie Hawks. No.

[Ryan Hawks]

And in English, I hear Skylar Dalio.

[Skylar De Leon]

I remember Buyington just kind of looks at me and just goes, scott, I murdered these people. And I go.

[Ryan Hawks]

And at that moment, I. Then I just said, any possibility that the Hawks were still alive Died right there, unfortunately. Because as soon as I heard that, I go down.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

They called me on their way up.

[Ryan Hawks]

Like, yep, we got it on the back of a flatbed trail. We caught him in the lie.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

It was key.

[Ryan Hawks]

It was so essential, the fact that.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler dropped that car off. Huge break.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skylar De Leon has already told police, I don't know what happened to the Hawks. All they said was they were driving off to Mexico.

[Tom Hawks]

They realized that Skyler De Leon and Jennifer, who was also described, had been down there. They had now witnesses who knew them, and they said, they gave us this car.

[Ryan Hawks]

Skylar had befriended this gentleman's son years earlier, and Skyler was an avid surfer and would go down and surf, and he would stay with that family.

[Jennifer De Leon]

That family had no idea who that car belonged to or the circumstances.

[Ryan Hawks]

I was about 99% sure that my parents were murdered, but I still had 1% hope. But when they found that car, that 1% was wiped out.

[Detective]

The same day, the Hawk's car is found down in Mexico, Skylar De Leon is back in Newport beach talking to the police.

[Narrator]

Skyler shows up, and he brings his little daughter Haley with him. I guess he's thinking, you can't arrive me if I've got a toddler with me.

[Ryan Hawks]

This is the big urgency we have right now. These people are still missing. I'm fearful that they're not alive.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Newport detectives wanted to interview them as much as possible because this story was starting to fray around the edges.

[Ryan Hawks]

You're saying you have nothing to do with their disappearance? As far as you know they're alive?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hawks]

And what you've told us so far is the truth regarding you getting money smuggled up here.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Hi. Hi. Yeah.

[Narrator]

And Skylar knows immediately, I'm in trouble. Skylar became nervous and that little girl, maybe she sensed it.

[Ryan Hawks]

I've only got baby.

[Detective]

Does she have tissues?

[Tom Hawks]

The baby suddenly spits up all over him. And so it interrupts the interview.

[Ryan Hawks]

Wanna leave the bag or feel right with it?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Okay.

[Detective]

There goes Skyler, thinking he's a free man. But not for long. The very next day, Skyler is under arrest.

[Ryan Hawks]

Police have arrested 25 year old Skylar.

[Narrator]

De Leon on suspicion of money laundering after he bought the couple's boat.

[Jackie Hawks]

Prosecutors say the investigation continues. They have not ruled out the possibility there may be more arrests in connection with the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawkes. After a brief break in court, De Leon returned teary eyed. At the time, I can remember in court he seemed like such a little man. And in one of the first court hearings he started crying. And at first you kind of think, do they have the right guy? The police search De Leon's little apartment in the garage. And it's a treasure trove of evidence.

[Narrator]

They go through top to bottom, this little garage turned apartment. And what do they find?

[Jennifer De Leon]

One of the first things detectives find is they find Tom and Jackie's laptop.

[Narrator]

And the most heartbreaking part of all.

[Tom Hawks]

They find a video camera.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Well deserved. What's the name of the next boat.

[Ryan Hawks]

Or whatever the film that was in it was of all the Hawks adventures out at sea. And then it abruptly ends and suddenly.

[Tom Hawks]

The footage cuts to Skylar and Jennifer.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skylar and Jennifer were using Tom and Jackie's camcorder to record their family Thanksgiving.

[Narrator]

There's no way Tom and Jackie would have left that camera behind.

[Skylar De Leon]

I was at their house the night it was searched by Newport Beach PD and Jennifer was just flatlined. Just watching the beginning of her life as she knew it come to an end. At that point I knew that Skylar had killed the Hoxes. What I didn't know was the extent of Jennifer's involvement.

[Ryan Hawks]

Did you know anything of this alleged crime? Police have arrested 25 year old Skylar De Leon.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skylar De Leon is now in custody.

[Ryan Hawks]

Arrested yesterday at his home in Long Beach. Police won't say if De Leon is a suspect in the Hawks disappearance.

[Tom Hawks]

They get Skylar out of the house and arrest him and they go inside.

[Narrator]

It's during the search of Jennifer and Skyler's little makeshift apartment that they come across another interesting find.

[Skylar De Leon]

A fellow detective of mine, Jay Short, had found a business card.

[Jennifer De Leon]

An LAPD officer named Joe Behena. He's a detective assigned to Interpol. And basically it's his job whenever There's a crime committed that the Mexican police need to investigate. He's their liaison officer.

[Skylar De Leon]

It's curious to us why Skyler De Leon had this business card in his property.

[Jennifer De Leon]

That's an interesting clue. Why is your business card in the home of our son suspect? And that's when we first heard the name John Jarvie.

[Skylar De Leon]

Come to find out Detective Behena had been helping the Ensenada State Police come up here to California because of John Jarvey, who was found with his throat slit.

[Jackie Hawks]

John Jarvey was it? Petty counterfeiter. And he met Skylar De Leon while they were both serving time in the Seal beach jail. They kept in contact afterwards.

[Detective]

Jarvi, after he's freed from jail, keeps in contact with Skylar because he remembers being promised a big score.

[Narrator]

Skylar has told him that he's from a wealthy family and he has big time investments. And he starts telling him, in fact, I've got a really sweet investment that I'm going to get into.

[Jennifer De Leon]

All John Jarvey needs to do is give Skylar $50,000 in cash and then they'll go down to Mexico, do this big score.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skylar is on this work release program which allows him to leave during certain parts of the day. They drive down to Mexico. John Jarvi's thinking, you know, I'm gonna make some great money here.

[Jennifer De Leon]

And they drive down to Mexico, outside of Ensenada.

[Skylar De Leon]

Except John Jarvey didn't come back.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skylar takes him down to a ravine, slits his throat, and leaves him to die on the side of a road in Mexico.

[Skylar De Leon]

There never was any deal in Mexico. He took my brother down there. It was specifically with the role of.

[Narrator]

Murdering him that evening. After Jarvie disappears, Skyler's got to hurry back. Not home, mind you, to jail. Don't forget, he's still in jail while this is going on. So he has to hurry back from the border so he can make his nightly check in over at the jail.

[Ryan Hawks]

My wife wakes me up.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Jeff, you gotta get up.

[Ryan Hawks]

Your brother's been murdered in Mexico.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Thinking of his last minutes, what they must have been. That's what I wake up to every night.

[Jackie Hawks]

When you think of how good of a con man Skyler was to convince this man to take out $50,000 and drive him across the border and then slit his throat and leave him to die on the side of the road. It's horrifying.

[Detective]

Mexican police had interviewed Skylar De Leon way back in 2003 about the murder of John Jarvi. But that case was totally unresolved until the Newport beach case came along.

[Skylar De Leon]

I Don't think John Jarvi's homicide would have ever been solved had it not been for our department getting involved. Absolutely not.

[Detective]

But then police are looking for a break in the Hawks case.

[Jennifer De Leon]

The other person that interviewed was Kathleen Harris. Kathleen Harris had no criminal background at all. She was a professional notary. Never been in trouble a day in her life.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm still trying to track that boat down. I just talked to them today and they're still, they're still looking for it.

[Jackie Hawks]

Kathleen Harris was a notary who was introduced to the De Leon's.

[Detective]

She says she was there when Skylar bought the boat from the Hawks.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I drove down to Newport and met Skylar and his wife and the couple.

[Skylar De Leon]

Her story was that Tom and Jackie Hawks had signed these documents in front of her.

[Jennifer De Leon]

She watched this transaction. She notarized the documents.

[Skylar De Leon]

It just didn't make sense. There's no way Kathleen Harris saw Tom and Jackie Hawks.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We had interviewed Kathleen Harris, I want to say, four or five times, and she would not come off her story.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

And I got there and I just noticed the documents.

[Ryan Hawks]

Keith and I were having a pretty heated argument about it.

[Skylar De Leon]

I told him, I said, you need to have someone else interview Kathleen Harris. And he goes, fine, you want to interview her, you call her in and interview her.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Just a morning.

[Skylar De Leon]

He.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Okay. Hi, I'm Keith Krolman. Nice to meet you.

[Skylar De Leon]

I just remember trying to confront her. To tell the truth. I'm asking for your help.

[Jackie Hawks]

I know.

[Skylar De Leon]

Are you part of these people's disappearance?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No.

[Skylar De Leon]

Did you hurt these people that are missing?

[Ryan Hawks]

Help.

[Skylar De Leon]

I knew she was lying. I just. I knew it just by her nonverbal, her body language. There's no doubt in your mind that two people sign these documents in front.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Of you right now? See, you hesitate. No bull only.

[Skylar De Leon]

This is, this is what I'm talking about.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Listen to me real well. Tell me right now the truth. Those people that are missing sign those.

[Skylar De Leon]

Documents is what you're telling me. I don't believe you. You were hesitant to begin with. Tell me the truth, Kathleen.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Tell me the truth.

[Skylar De Leon]

She was nervous. Her voice was cracking. She was looking down.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Kathleen, these people didn't sign these documents in front of you, did they? When I filled out the log, they have to sign it and put their thumbprint.

[Skylar De Leon]

Okay. And you took their thumbprints?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm 90% sure.

[Jennifer De Leon]

No, there's no 90, Kathleen. There's no 90.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

It's either 100 or it's nothing. You're being wishy washy, Kathleen.

[Skylar De Leon]

Give me a break. I mean, my 4 year old would do better than this.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Honestly, Kathleen.

[Skylar De Leon]

No, honestly.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth. I know, and I'm telling you what happened.

[Skylar De Leon]

She stuck to her story. She didn't come off it. She didn't change it.

[Ryan Hawks]

I remember Keith coming out saying, I'm sorry. And I'm thinking, are you kidding me? I go, I go. I think, I think you pushed her. I think we got her. The next call we got was from an attorney representing her. Say that she wanted to come in and make a statement.

[Tom Hawks]

And she finally says, no, we were not in the parking lot. Like I said before, she'd never met.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Tom and Jackie Hawks. She was given documents and paid in cash to backdate the documents. And that was one of the most significant breaks we had in the investigation because now we knew Skyler and Jennifer never had that notarized with Tom and Jackie and that that was, that was false.

[Ryan Hawks]

That was the first domino to fall. Then we started pressuring everybody else because we knew everybody else had lied to us too.

[Narrator]

You know, likely this case very easily could have never been solved. It could have like that, just been another unsolved missing person's case. Except for one thing. Alonzo Machene. He's about to give cops the break they need to bring the convictions they need.

[Skylar De Leon]

Hello, it's Robin Roberts here. Hey, guys, it's George Stephanopoulos here. Hey, everybody, it's Michael Strahan here. Wake up with Good Morning America.

[Ryan Hawks]

Robin, George, Michael, gma, America's favorite number one morning show. The morning's first breaking news, exclusive interviews, what everyone will be talking about that day. Put some good in your morning and.

[Skylar De Leon]

Start your day with Gmail. Good Morning America.

[Ryan Hawks]

Put the good in your morning.

[Skylar De Leon]

GMA 7A on ABC.

[Jennifer De Leon]

If you love your phone but not.

[Skylar De Leon]

Your carrier, just switch to T Mobile. You can keep your phone, keep your number and we'll help pay it off. Up to 800 per line. You can also use our savings calculator to compare our plans and streaming benefits against Verizon and AT&T. So switch and keep your phone, keep your number and keep more of your moolah. @t mobile.com up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device intelligible carrier and timely redemptor required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Ryan Hawks]

Still no sign of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. But bit by bit, police are slowly.

[Narrator]

Beginning to unravel the mystery surrounding their disappearance.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Good morning, Alonzo.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Good Morning.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We just want to know what you know. Alonzo Machain was actually a jailer in the Seal Beach City Jail where Schuyler was serving time. So that's how they meet.

[Ryan Hawks]

We focused on Alonzo because we thought he would be a weakling too.

[Jackie Hawks]

He is going to save his own skin. He's not going to go down for this.

[Jennifer De Leon]

He turned himself in. And Alonzo Machene took us detail by detail through the conspiracy. Conspiracy to murder Tom and Jackie Hawks.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

When I met Skyler, he started talking about that he had all this money.

[Ryan Hawks]

That he was part of the Power Rangers.

[Jackie Hawks]

The chilling details were laid out by one of the people who was on board that yacht and who took part in the murders.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He said that he was gonna do something that, you know, was gonna make some money, a couple million dollars.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler tells him that he's an international hitman.

[Ryan Hawks]

He gets his contracts out on people and they're all bad people because he'll only kill bad people. He won't kill good people. So he's an assassin with, you know, with a conscience.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He said, what I do is just take him out to sea and toss them overboard.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler promised Alonzo a million dollars.

[Jackie Hawks]

All you had to do is kill this couple and we could get their boat and their savings. And for whatever reason, Alonso McChain thought, that's a good idea. I'll go along with it.

[Detective]

Alonzo and Skyler go aboard. The well deserved.

[Jackie Hawks]

Tom had worked in probation. He'd worked with ex cons. His suspicions immediately went up, meeting Skyler De Leon and Alonso Machene because they just didn't seem like the type of guys who could afford to buy a yacht going for more than $400,000.

[Jennifer De Leon]

So what does Skylar do to solve that problem? He immediately calls Jennifer and says, you got to bring Haley down, their one year old and put these people at ease.

[Narrator]

Jennifer shows up and she completely charms Jackie. Jackie, the one who wanted to go and play with her grandson.

[Ryan Hawks]

My stepmother definitely fell hook, line and sinker for that. For that woman and her baby.

[Jennifer De Leon]

That's actually the linchpin in the whole thing. Like, had it not been for that, Tom and Jackie Hawks would still be alive today.

[Jackie Hawks]

At the same time, Skyler's sizing up Tom and he knows he's going to need more help because he can't overpower him on his own.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

He started sizing up Mr. Hawk and he said, well, I could take him, but it's better to have somebody else.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skylar realizes if they're gonna actually pull this thing off, they need to get a big guy to sign onto this.

[Jackie Hawks]

Skyler meets John F. Kennedy through a mutual friend who Skyler had worked with.

[Jennifer De Leon]

John Fitzgerald. Kennedy was an original founding member of the Long Beach Insane Crips. So he became the muscle in this whole scheme.

[Jackie Hawks]

They're leaving Newport beach harbor like they've done many, many times before. On board is Skyler De Leon, Alonso Machene, and John F. Kennedy. Tom and Jackie Hawks think they're just taking this boat out for a test run. They have no idea what's in store for them.

[Skylar De Leon]

A Long beach gang member, a Seal beach jail security officer, and Skyler De Leon. Weird. So they leave Newport harbor and set a course out towards Catalina.

[Ryan Hawks]

As they're heading out, the plan kind of goes into formation.

[Jackie Hawks]

At some point, they get Jackie and Tom separated.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler and John Kennedy went downstairs with Tom Hawks. Meanwhile, Jackie's in the kitchen, and she hears this ruckus.

[Narrator]

And Alonzo knows. Oh, it's going down. It's going down right now.

[Jackie Hawks]

That struggle is Kennedy overpowering Tom Hawks.

[Jennifer De Leon]

He was able to restrain Tom Hawks long enough to get him handcuffed. Meanwhile, it's Alonzo's job to subdue Jackie Hawks.

[Ryan Hawks]

Jackie's here, Lonzo's here. And then that's where Thomas Hawks, Skyler and Jeff care on the bottom. And Jackie hears the commotion. She looks down this way, and this is where Lyons overpowers her.

[Jackie Hawks]

They're laid down next to each other on the bed. Jackie was pleading for her life. She was saying, you know, I just want to see my grandson.

[Narrator]

Jackie is begging, and she says to Skylar, how could you do this? How could you do this to us? You brought your pregnant wife on board. We met your daughter.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

She's going to scout. We trusted you. Why are you doing this?

[Detective]

Mr. And Mrs. Hawks tied up together.

[Jackie Hawks]

Tom is stroking her hand, trying to comfort her.

[Ryan Hawks]

This is when you hear the part about stroking her hand occurs down here to put her at ease. I don't like being down here.

[Jennifer De Leon]

It's one of the most poignant things I've ever heard in my career. It's okay, sweetheart. We're going to be together. Where we're going, we're going to be together.

[Jackie Hawks]

Each of them is brought up to sign documents. It's essentially turning the boat over to Skyler De Leon and giving him access to their bank accounts.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

You need to sign this, and if you cooperate, we'll let you go.

[Narrator]

But there was something very interesting about the way Jackie Hawkes, with an S, signed her name. It's H A W K. She's smart.

[Jackie Hawks]

Enough to mess up her signature. She signs it Hawk instead of Hawks.

[Narrator]

With an S. She was sending a signal. I'm doing this under duress.

[Jennifer De Leon]

And it looked like somebody went back later and put in an S. Totally inconsistent with any way she'd ever signed her name. This is a woman who now that she is going to her death, this is a woman who knows that she is about to be murdered and she is sending this flare up into the future for somebody to make it right.

[Tom Hawks]

Meanwhile, Skyler, he's upsetting the GPS to go out to the deepest point in the ocean. That's 3,500ft. It's the deepest place.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Then Skyler said he has seen an anchor.

[Detective]

Went to the front and grabbed this huge anchor and brought it back, put it in the back of the boat.

[Narrator]

And they handcuffed them to the anchor. And at that point Tom, his fight instinct kicks in.

[Jackie Hawks]

He kicks backwards and he kicks so hard he kicks Skylar in the groin and hard enough that he almost falls over. That was the last act of defiance.

[Ryan Hawks]

Skylar stands up with a smirk, tosses his huge anchor off the side of the boat.

[Tom Hawks]

The weight of the anchor, it goes tight. And suddenly they're being pulled across the deck. Jackie's head knocks into the side. Boom. And you can hear it.

[Narrator]

And then out an open door and they both fall into the ocean.

[Jackie Hawks]

They were very much alive when they were dumped into the ocean.

[Tom Hawks]

The weight of the anchor pulls them down to the bottom of the deepest part of the sea.

[Narrator]

Skylar gives AD a woo hoo after it happens and then leans overboard and watches until the water becomes still. And that's what happened.

[Ryan Hawks]

Folks got her act of and maybe while this was happening it was calm.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Was the most normal thing.

[Detective]

And then they actually turned the boat around.

[Tom Hawks]

Then Kennedy found a fishing pole, decides.

[Jennifer De Leon]

He'S going to fish. On the way back to Newport Harbor.

[Skylar De Leon]

John F. Kennedy took a beer from the Hawks fridge.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Takes one of Tom Hawk's beers.

[Skylar De Leon]

No problem. Just ended two people's lives. Let's have a beer. Ridiculous.

[Detective]

It's hard to believe anybody could do such a terrible crime. Especially a guy like mild mannered Skyler De Leon. And then there's the motive.

[Narrator]

Was it just for the boat? Was that it? But maybe that wasn't all, as we'd learn later.

[Detective]

What else should we know.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Here? Hot flowers smelling.

[Ryan Hawks]

When Skylar was arrested, Jennifer was still out of custody. We still really didn't have enough information or evidence against her to prosecute her on much of anything at that point.

[Tom Hawks]

She at the time, she stuck by her man.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

All right, we are rolling. How confident are you that Skyler had nothing to do with Tom and Jackie Holland presumably being murdered or at least missing? I am very confident, as confident as I can be that Skyler will be home soon.

[Detective]

What we still don't know is Jennifer's role.

[Skylar De Leon]

There was a split of opinions within Newport beach pd. Some thought she was the ice queen and the second coming of Satan herself. And others thought that she was just the dutiful wife who got caught up in her husband's nefarious dealings.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Did you know anything about a crime?

[Ryan Hawks]

No.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We extended immunity to Jennifer, said, look, tell us what happened.

[Skylar De Leon]

It was the ultimate offer. It was a get out of jail free card. All she would have had to do was testify against her husband and incredibly.

[Jennifer De Leon]

She turned it down.

[Tom Hawks]

She had a chance to save herself and she chose to stick with by Skyler.

[Jennifer De Leon]

They almost completed each other. Jennifer and Skylar, before they met, hadn't committed any crimes that we're aware of really as individuals. But when they met, it was like fire and gasoline.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Do you have any fear? I know it's been speculated that they may arrest you. Most definitely not knowing if that is something that happens to constantly be wondering, you know, I nurse my son, is this the last time I'm gonna nurse my child? This is the last time I'm gonna tuck Haley into bed. I mean, it's terrifying. Good girl.

[Jackie Hawks]

23 year old Jennifer, just feet behind her 25 year old husband, Skylar. As their attorneys enter their plea, Jennifer De Leon is finally arrested. And that is really surprising because she was not on the boat at the time of the murders. And at that point everybody's wondering, well, how did she play a part? The attorney for Jennifer De Leon, who just gave birth to her second child several weeks ago, says she wants her tried separately.

[Jennifer De Leon]

The first person to go on trial was Jennifer De Leon. And I think that she was still operating, operating under the belief that she could blame Skylar for everything that had happened.

[Jackie Hawks]

De Leon's attorney during trial insisted she did not know what her husband was planning until after the Hawks were killed. She only did what she did out of fear of her husband.

[Detective]

The defense for Jennifer was that she was not a part of this whole thing. She didn't know it was going to happen, she was forced into it.

[Narrator]

But as the evidence unfolded, nobody bought that. Everybody knew who was in charge and it wasn't Skylar.

[Detective]

How much in charge was Jen?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I think probably we had our roles reversed.

[Detective]

Is she the brains in the. In the family.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I hate that. Yeah.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler did not make a move without running it by Jennifer. At every significant event during the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks, he called Jennifer, they get down to Newport beach. He calls Jennifer, they get on the boat out to sea. He calls Jennifer, they get out where they tie Tom and Jackie Hawks to that anchor, begging for their lives. First thing Skylar did is call Jennifer.

[Jackie Hawks]

She knew exactly what was going on because Skylar kept her informed before, during and after the murders.

[Jennifer De Leon]

That woman was physically not on the boat during the murders, but she was absolutely on the boat with guidance in spirit.

[Narrator]

Jennifer was always on Skylar for the nice things. She wanted to move out, and she put a lot of pressure on Skylar to make that happen for her.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Well, I mean, she wanted that fairytale life.

[Jackie Hawks]

Jennifer is seen with a grin on her face as they're trying to take money out of the Hawks accounts after they murdered them.

[Jennifer De Leon]

And her whole defense was she was terrified of Skyler. She only went along with it because she was afraid that Skylar might kill her too. And she has a gigantic grin on her face, the look of a woman whose financial problems and debt problems are about to be solved, not somebody that's afraid of the man that she's with.

[Jackie Hawks]

For her to say that she was not involved in any way was an outright lie.

[Skylar De Leon]

Jennifer De Leon was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

[Jackie Hawks]

Jennifer De Leon, mother of two, guilty of their murders.

[Jennifer De Leon]

She was convicted of of the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks and received a sentence of life without possibility of parole.

[Ryan Hawks]

Although her family suffers because she's loved.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

They'Ll still get a chance to see.

[Ryan Hawks]

Her say their last words and say their thoughts.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

They'll be seeing her through plexiglass, but.

[Ryan Hawks]

You know, to see my parents, I.

[Jackie Hawks]

Have to look through 3,600 of the cold Pacific Ocean.

[Narrator]

So here's the question. Why did they do it? Why do they go after these complete strangers, murdered them so coldly? Was it just for the boat? Was that it? But maybe that wasn't all.

[Ryan Hawks]

As we learn later during the investigation, there were some points that came up where Skyler's gender identity was questioned, that he was believes he was transgender, and that that was possibly a motive for not only the Jarvey homicide, but the Hawks homicide to facilitate payment for his transgender surgery.

[Detective]

I interviewed Skyler De Leon in jail in 2009. Just before the interview, Skylar was rushed to the hospital after an incident at the jail.

[Skylar De Leon]

He actually tries to cut his own penis off in jail.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I basically took a ripped piece of sheet and tied it around my lower extremity, and I went to cut it off.

[Detective]

Have this been something you've been thinking about for a while?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah, for a long time.

[Detective]

Tell me about what's behind that.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Well, I guess it's something that I've always, always felt like as young as I could remember and like, always wanted.

[Detective]

To be a woman.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yes. But I'm not attracted to guys. But I wanted the surgery.

[Detective]

So then when you get to jail, why did you figure you were never gonna get the surgery, so you might as well try it yourself?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I guess so, kind of in a way I just said, you know what? I'll do it myself. But they got to me too quick.

[Detective]

So you're still a man?

[Skylar De Leon]

Unfortunately, Skylar De Leon had put money down to get a sex change prior to this crime.

[Ryan Hawks]

We found, actually a receipt where skyler had paid $500 to a surgeon who specialized in gender reassignment surgery.

[Narrator]

I mean, he lies so much. You never know when you're getting wrapped up in yet another con job. Maybe he just wanted to say, how could I do it? I'm weak, I'm frail. I'm practically a woman. Right. Maybe it's just yet another con.

[Detective]

I mean, should we walk away from this program, this interview, knowing only that you cold bloodedly killed three people?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No.

[Detective]

What else should we know?

[Ryan Hawks]

A former child actor will stand trial.

[Jennifer De Leon]

For murder in a scheme to steal.

[Skylar De Leon]

A yacht from a retired couple.

[Jackie Hawks]

They disappeared four years ago.

[Ryan Hawks]

Their bodies were never recovered. My family and I have been waiting for this day for a long time.

[Detective]

So Scott Odileon goes on trial in the fall of 2008, two years after his wife had been convicted. He's charged with murdering Tom and Jackie Hawks and also John Jarvi. In Mexico.

[Jackie Hawks]

Ryan Hawkes sat just feet away from the man who allegedly murdered his father and mother, Thomas and Jackie Hawks, for their boat and their life savings.

[Ryan Hawks]

I want him to know that I'm there. I want him to realize, you know, this is what he took from me and the rest of my family.

[Jackie Hawks]

Jurors also deciding if De Leon killed John Jarvi. Prosecutors allege de Leon took $50,000 from Jarvey, slit his throat, and dumped him in Mexico.

[Skylar De Leon]

For us, the trial was not about revenge. It's about protecting society from this man to do more damage.

[Ryan Hawks]

To my surprise, when Skyler's attorney got up, he went to a large flip.

[Jackie Hawks]

Chart, stood before jurors, and in bold letters wrote, skyler is guilty of all.

[Detective]

Three murders because we were going to lose anyway. He was going to get convicted they had the evidence and they had somebody who was there confess. If I tried to mislead them during.

[Ryan Hawks]

The guilt phase, then they're not going to believe me when I get up there.

[Detective]

Talks about the penalty fashion.

[Jackie Hawks]

His defense was that Skyler had been abused as a boy. He was abused at the hands of his father.

[Detective]

Not only in the physical abuse, the sexual abuse, the emotional abuse, but the abandonment issues. Everybody in his life basically abandoned him at one time or another. When you think about your childhood, what do you think about it?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I hated it. I mean, there's lots of times I wished I was dead. I hated my childhood. When Skylar was caught biting his nail.

[Jackie Hawks]

John would stick toothpicks up in between.

[Narrator]

His nails into his finger beds because.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

That would teach him your dad physically.

[Detective]

Abused you, could beat you.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Detective]

And then he had a friend who sexually abused you.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yes.

[Detective]

So how does that terrible childhood have any relevance to the situation we're in today where three people are murdered at his hands? You try to explain as best you can on who the person is and hopefully get some sympathy from the jury that might impact on whether they vote to impose the death penalty or not.

[Tom Hawks]

I think the defense attorney did the.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Best he could, but he didn't have much to work with.

[Detective]

There's only one problem with Skyler's defense. You have to believe him. And he's a proven liar. He is a pathetic figure in a.

[Ryan Hawks]

Lot of ways, and he has a hard time telling the truth.

[Jennifer De Leon]

My 26 year career as a person prosecutor, Skylar De Leon is the best liar that I've ever seen. For example, he said he was Marine Corps Force Recon.

[Narrator]

To hear Skyler tell it, he was this deadly trained sniper. He was sent to the Middle east where he would take care of business for the government.

[Jackie Hawks]

He did join the Marines at one point, but even that he wasn't successful at. He left after about a couple of weeks. Went awol.

[Detective]

You told people you were a sniper?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Oh, yes.

[Detective]

You weren't, but you told people that?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yes.

[Detective]

Give me a little insight into that. Skyler, why would you do those things?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I don't know. I guess just trying to impress people I was around, I guess.

[Detective]

Skyler seemed happy to talk about his gender surgery, but he didn't want to talk about his murder victims. John Jarvey. Was he a friend of yours?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Acquaintance, I guess. Just somebody I met at the jail. I mean, I didn't even really know him that good.

[Detective]

Did you kill him?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I can't go into that.

[Detective]

Skyler De Leon is one of the most haunting figures I've ever interviewed how he tied these poor people up in an anchor and threw them off the boat while they were still alive. It was just the worst thing I could ever think of. Should we walk away from this program, this interview, knowing only that you cold bloodedly killed three people?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

No.

[Detective]

What else should we know?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Personally, I don't think I'm the person that they portrayed 100%. I mean, I think generally good person, just with a really bad decision for the most part. I mean, I'm a nice person. I treat everybody nice.

[Detective]

What do you want people to know about Skylar De Leon?

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Get it out there, I guess. I'm sorry. One thing, you know, take some things. That's probably one of the biggest things.

[Detective]

Ryan Hawk, who is the spokesman, of course, for the family, the son, told us that your apology is more about you. You're sorry that you got caught, but you're not really sorry about his family, his parents.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Well, I would say, you know, I'm definitely sorry to his parents. I wish we could take back that time and give him back his parents because it's like now I realize what he's lost.

[Skylar De Leon]

De Leon was convicted for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks.

[Jennifer De Leon]

Skyler was convicted of the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks and also John Jarvey.

[Jackie Hawks]

The jury took two days to find him worthy of being sentenced to death. I don't think there was any surprise.

[Skylar De Leon]

The jury recommended the death penalty. That's what the former child actor.

[Detective]

A few months after Skyler's convicted another accomplice, John F. Kennedy. He was the muscle. He's tried, convicted and sentenced to death.

[Ryan Hawks]

It's a big relief. We've been waiting for this for a very long time.

[Tom Hawks]

Skyler has finally, I think, become the person that she has always wanted to be.

[Ryan Hawks]

Skyler De Leon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy received the death penalty or on death row. Jennifer De Leon received two life sentences in her involvement and she's in prison now.

[Narrator]

At the end of the day, they all get what they deserve. Only Lonzo will ever see the light of day again.

[Jennifer De Leon]

We decided that a 20 year sentence was appropriate for him given his cooperation, given his instrumental role in the prosecution of all these other people that were involved in the conspiracy.

[Ryan Hawks]

Justice was served because these people were found guilty. But it's never a win because Ryan and Matt lost their parents. Mrs. Jarvie lost her son. Now that the governor has taken the death penalty off the table, you know, they're getting three squares a day and living their life. So I've really mixed feelings on them.

[Tom Hawks]

Skylar has finally, I think, become the person that she has always wanted to be. Skylar is now legally a woman. She has filed court papers and she has changed her name from Skylar Julius de Leon to Skylar Preciosa de Leon.

[Detective]

And it's worth remembering, I know I do that. Even as we were interviewing him, Skyler was already planning how he could live with women in jail and not men. There's some talk about one of the reasons you wanted to do this. You wanted to be in the women's jail.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

Yeah, I would rather be because I get along a lot better with female than I do with guys. So if I'm gonna be doing time, at least maybe I could do it with females and guys.

[Tom Hawks]

Over time, he was growing more and more effeminate looking. He asked for female underwear and a bra. And eventually, as the criminal justice system has been kind of changing with the culture, she was allowed to start wearing those things. And she wants to be called a she.

[Ryan Hawks]

He's receiving hormones on the state tax dollars. I think he's petitioned to have the surgery done. But you shouldn't be rewarded for brutally murdering three people so you can get your way. Any chance they get to take advantage of the system to get some sort of benefit that they think they deserve. We are sending the wrong message.

[Skylar De Leon]

The lingering thoughts I have about the case are just the senselessness of it. Stupid people doing stupid things and vicious things.

[Detective]

This case is probably one of the few that just sheer evil is involved.

[Jennifer De Leon]

I was prosecutor for 26 years. This is a case I will personally never forget.

[Ryan Hawks]

They're evil personified. Scariest people I've ever met.

[Jennifer De Leon]

I had a recurring nightmare for years where Skyler is running and I've got to chase him and tackle him. And it's one of the most gratifying things in my career to have jury make the right call. And not just once, not just twice, but three times. With Jennifer, with Skylar, and with John Kennedy.

[Jackie Hawks]

Tom and Jackie Hawks were murdered more than 15 years ago. And this is one of the cases that I still think about. When I am looking out toward Catalina island and I look at the ocean, I think of them.

[Narrator]

Hi, Jackie.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

I'm so glad you could join us on our last voyage. And well deserved. Got a few boats here on old Catalina so we'll miss for a while, but we'll be back.

[Tom Hawks]

Thanks for listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. We hope you'll join us Friday nights.

[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]

At 9 on ABC for all new broadcast episodes.

[Skylar De Leon]

See you then.

[Jennifer De Leon]

At T Mobile.

[Skylar De Leon]

We'll give you four free 5G phones and four lines for only $25 per line per month with eligible trading. And no, it's not a contest, it's every day for a limited time. Everyone's a winner on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of 4 lines for 25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account $5 more per line without autopay. Up to 830 off each phone via 24 monthly bill credit plus taxes, fees and 10 device connection charge for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit. Stop and balance on required finance agreement to bill credits and if you pay off devices early. CT mobile dot com.